All posts tagged sala sontana

Fumiki Yukawa was on his way to stock up food for his restaurant on Friday when the massive earthquake struck Tokyo. Anticipating that thousands of people wouldn’t be able to go home that night, he hurried back to his restaurant and posted on Twitter that it would stay open.

That day, his restaurant offered 25 people a warm place and a free drink. Four days after the earthquake, he has few customers. “They are staying home because of the service cuts, and people don’t stay out late because they are afraid of being stranded again,” said the 34-year-old Mr. Yukawa, who opened his restaurant Hengenjizai in 2009 after leaving Sony Corp. Not surprisingly, the restaurant business is severely hit by the earthquake. Japanese restaurant chain Skylark announced Wednesday that it will only be able to serve a quarter of what’s on its menu because its factory, suffering from a power shortage, can’t keep up with production. Among the hardest hit are the small-restaurant owners, who are trying to come up with ways to stay in business and attract customers, but with little luck so far. Read More »

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Japan Real Time is a newsy, concise guide to what works, what doesn’t and why in the one-time poster child for Asian development, as it struggles to keep pace with faster-growing neighbors while competing with Europe for Michelin-rated restaurants. Drawing on the expertise of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires, the site provides an inside track on business, politics and lifestyle in Japan as it comes to terms with being overtaken by China as the world’s second-biggest economy. You can contact the editors at japanrealtime@wsj.com